Willow King (19 page)

“So what do we do?” At the moment, she felt so helpless.

“First, we see how this colt bounces back. This is going to cost us a couple of days of training, and that's not good. When he's ready to train again, we've got to decide if we're going to run him or if we're going to knuckle under to this type of dirty work.”

“Who would do such a thing?” she asked, but already a picture of the tall man with the angry face loomed in her mind. She looked at John and knew he was thinking the same thing. Katie stood with hands on hips, her mouth set in a determined line. “I say we fight this thing!”

“I was hoping you would say that.” John smiled and slapped her on the shoulder. “Call Jason and Jan and see if they'll help. We're going to have to set up watches around the clock. I don't want this colt left alone for one minute. No one relaxes until we've won the Futurity!”

Fifteen

“I can't believe anyone could stoop so low!” Jason grumbled as he ran his hand over King's sleek coat. “He could have killed this colt.”

“We're not sure it was Orlin,” Katie said, but it was a weak protest. She was almost positive it was the creepy trainer of Raging Wind.

“Who else could it be? King's his main competition,” Jason argued. “I mean, sure, there're some other nice colts here, but King is the toughest competition for Raging Wind. If King's out of the way, Caldwell's colt will have a much easier time winning the Futurity.”

Katie nodded. “I just wish we had some proof, but John says Orlin is too smart for that. The only thing we can do is keep an eye on King around the clock.”

“Well, you can count on me.” Jason grabbed his sleeping bag and threw it into the tack room. “You and Jan can split the day shift, and John and I will take the night watch.”

“Thanks, Jason.” Katie smiled at him. “You've been a real friend. I don't know what King and I would have done without you.”

Jason gave her a brilliant smile. “I'm glad you didn't have to find out.” He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from Katie's face. “You're special, Katie Durham. I'm glad we're friends.”

When race day arrived, Katie woke with the thousand butterflies in her stomach again. True to Dr. Marvin's prediction, King had quickly come back to his normal self and had been eager to train. They had pushed him hard to ready him for the grueling race, but John still worried that the horse might not be fit enough to compete in top form.

Another worry was the lineup of horses for the race. Orlin Caldwell had two horses running in the Futurity. Although Raging Wind was going to be tough to beat, the other horse didn't even belong in the race.

“He's just a cheap claimer that Orlin's put in to give us trouble,” John said. “He drew the hole next to ours. If he boxes us in, we're going to be hurtin'.”

At first Caldwell had seemed surprised to see King back at the track. But he smiled his oily smile at Katie and went back to work. She couldn't prove he had sabotaged King. The only way to get her revenge was to beat him fair and square.

A half-hour before the call to the gate, Katie entered King's stall and set to work. “You're going to look like royalty,” she said as she wove purple ribbons and carnations into his mane and tail.

“You're going to make him look like a sissy,” Jason teased from outside the stall.

“You hush,” Katie replied. “I want him to look beautiful for the win picture.” She picked out his hooves and brushed his coat until it gleamed in the sunlight. This was only King's second race, but by now he had figured out what was happening, and he fidgeted, eager to be on with the business at hand.

They announced the call to the paddock. Katie waited for John's signal before she led King out to the pony horse. Orlin Caldwell walked by with Raging Wind and tipped his hat in their direction, a mischievous smile playing about his lips.

“Good luck, folks. May the best horse win.” He laughed and walked on.

“Don't let him get to you,” Jason said as he stepped up to grab her hand and give it a squeeze. “You've got the best horse, and he knows it. He wouldn't dare try anything in the race.”

“Don't be so sure of that,” John cautioned. “But, whatever he does, we'll be ready for him. I've already talked to our jockey. He knows to be on the lookout for trouble.”

King pranced about the paddock, showing off for the public. In the post parade, he bowed his neck and strutted. The people remembered him from his last performance, and the odds on King dropped dramatically.

“Looks like the public has picked him to win,” Jason said as he came to stand beside her. “Come on. We're supposed to meet everybody up in the Turf Club. John wants to watch the race from up there.”

Katie climbed the stairs two at a time. Her heart was beating in triple time. She reached Mr. Ellis's reserved table just as the horses were being loaded into the gate. Her mother reached over and patted her arm.

“Quit shaking, dear. Everything's going to be fine,” Mrs. Durham said.

Katie smiled and gave her a hug. “I hope so. This is what we've been waiting for, Mom.” She laughed nervously. An awful lot depended on this race. Her mom had been working so hard to keep the farm's taxes paid. And Katie herself had given up Jester for so long. All for this one moment.

Katie truly believed that King was a champion. She'd believed in him from the first moment she'd laid eyes on him, even with those pitifully deformed legs. No one but Katie had been able to see into his heart and spirit. No one else had wanted to give him a chance.

For Katie, the winning wasn't really about the money. In her heart, she knew it was about something much more important. King
had
to win!

She spotted Mr. Caldwell sitting several tables down from her and resisted the urge to make a face at him.

“The last horse is being loaded in the gate for this year's running of the Portland Downs Futurity,” the track announcer called.

“And they're off!”

King broke from his outside post position and dropped down to the inner part of the track. High Tide, the weaker half of the Caldwell entry, was on the inside rail, running next to him.

“That's good,” John said. “At least we're not trapped on the rail with no place to run.”

Raging Wind had taken the lead, and King was running fifth, next to High Tide. “How come he's so far back?” Katie asked.

“He's sitting just where I want him,” John replied. “With that missed race, this colt's not fit enough to go out there on the engine and set blistering fractions. Let Caldwell's horse do that, and when he tires, we'll catch him in the homestretch.”

The horses thundered down the backstretch, and King moved up in position, gaining on the lead horse with each stride of his powerful legs.

“That's it, King!” Katie shouted as he moved into third place. Her adrenaline was pumping so hard that she felt she was going to faint.

“Raging Wind is hanging on to his lead. Flaggstaff and Willow King have moved up to challenge as they enter the last turn on the way to the homestretch.” The announcer's voice boomed throughout the building.

“High Tide is now moving on the inside, coming up to challenge Willow King!”

A sudden intake of breath from the crowd alerted Katie that something had gone wrong. She stood on tiptoe to see what had happened.

“High Tide has blown the turn and is taking Willow King to the outside rail with him. It looks like it's all over for these two colts. Raging Wind is still in the lead as they come out of the turn and head down the homestretch!”

“No!” Katie shouted as she bolted into the aisle for a better view. King's jockey was standing in the irons, trying to slow his horse enough to duck in behind the drifting Caldwell horse. Katie gasped as King appeared to trip over the other colt's hind legs, but he righted himself and surged back into the race, his long stride eating up the ground beneath him. He had already lost many lengths on the other horses, but his heart wouldn't let him quit.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Willow King has freed himself from the tangle and is back in the race!” the voice from the microphone blared.

“Look at him go!” Katie jumped up and down and pounded on Jason's back. “Here he comes!”

The crowd went wild as Willow King made a valiant effort to catch the leader. He roared down the homestretch, nostrils flaring and hooves churning the dirt. With a sixteenth of a mile to go, he caught Raging Wind, and the two horses ran neck and neck to the finish line.

“It's a photo finish!” the announcer said. “Hold all tickets for the results.”

Katie ran down the stairs, pushing past Orlin Caldwell at the door.

“Watch it, little girl,” he growled menacingly. “You wouldn't want to get hurt.”

Katie turned to face him. “I'm not afraid of you.” She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I know that was no accident out there on the last turn. You don't deserve to win this race. You don't deserve a horse as good as Raging Wind!” She turned and bolted out the door, running to catch Willow King.

King trotted back to the winner's circle. The jockey removed his goggles and spoke to them. “It was so close, I'm not even sure who got it. Regardless of who wins, this is one fine horse. He gave it everything he had.”

Both riders of the photo-finish horses stayed in the saddle, circling their mounts as they waited for the results. The neon sign that announced the inquiry went out, and a murmur arose from the crowd as they waited for the winner's number to be posted on the board. The number nine was put first, and King's jockey stood in the stirrups, his crop held victoriously over his head in a salute.

“We did it!” Jason grabbed her and whirled her around in a circle. “King won the Futurity!”

“We won!” she whispered in awe, then jumped up and down, clapping her hands together. “We really, really won!”

John grabbed King as Katie herded everyone into the winner's circle. She felt like she was in a dream. One week ago she thought King was going to die, and now she stood posing in the winner's circle after the Portland Downs Futurity.

Everyone chattered excitedly as they walked back to the barn, shaking hands and thumping one another on the back. King tossed his head and stepped proudly. Several hundred yards ahead of them, Katie could see Orlin Caldwell leading Raging Wind back to his stall.

“Katie girl, you take King to the test barn. I'll send Jason down with his halter and water bucket,” John said.

She took King and walked to the fenced-in barn, wondering if Raging Wind would be required to give a urine sample. Sometimes they only tested the first-place horse; other times they took the first three. She hoped King would be the only one this time. She didn't want to see that tall creepy man again. Now that they had won the Futurity, she hoped that he would leave them alone.

Katie looked up when she heard a car driving down the pavement that separated the barns. It was unusual for there to be a vehicle on the grounds during the races. Only the veterinarians were allowed to have their cars inside the gates at race time. But this was a police car.

John arrived at the same time as Jason. Both of them showed their identification at the test barn gate, then entered the enclosure.

“Justice is served!” John said as he picked up the hose and ran the water over King's steaming body. “They've arrested Orlin for allegedly conspiring to tamper with a race.”

“But how? I know he did it, but we've got no proof.” Katie was dumbfounded.

“Seems he promised that jockey aboard High Tide a piece of the action if he knocked King out of the race. Since we won, Orlin refused to give him a dime. The track stewards were a little suspicious of the race and called that rider to their office to question him. The poor kid got scared and told them everything he knew in return for leniency. Caldwell is busted. I think this will finish his career as a trainer.”

“But what about Raging Wind? He's such a good horse. It's too bad his career has ended, too.”

“Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Caldwell's no dummy. Even if he goes to jail, he'll either sell the colt or put him in someone else's name. We'll meet up with him again,” John said as he took the metal scraper and wiped the extra water from King's coat.

“What about the Derby?” she asked hesitantly.

“What Derby?” John said with a knowing smile. “You mean the Kentucky Derby? What about it?”

“Do you think we have a chance at it? Raging Wind was headed to the Derby, and we've beat him twice. The race today was only a couple of tenths off the track record. If King could almost fall down and still come within a hair of the record, I'd say that was pretty good.”

“But Raging Wind was nominated into that race. You have to pay a lot of money to get into that event,” John explained.

“How much money?” Katie ran the totals for King's share of the winner's purse in her head.

John unfolded the cooling-out blanket and threw it over King's back. “More money than this colt has won.”

Katie was disappointed. She knew King was good. Today's race had proved how much heart he had. Now she would have to content herself with running him in the smaller races. Maybe someday, one of King's babies would be able to compete in the Kentucky Derby.

John broke into her thoughts. “Don't look so sullen, girl. This horse just ran a heck of a race. You've got a lot to be proud of. You two have come a long way together.”

“You're right, John.” Katie smiled at him and counted her blessings. King was safe, and their farm was, too. She had a lot to be thankful for.

The gate to the test barn clanged shut and Mr. Ellis came in. “Congratulations, Katie.” He extended his hand. “The colt ran a great race. Has John told you his surprise yet?”